The One Sky Project is the first ever creative industries trade mission to India and a unique exchange of cultures. A group of very different and diverse British artists based around Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire are taking their skills and their work to display in India. The aim is to begin a globalisation of creative industries, in a two-way exchange that will open up new markets for British artists in India and for Indian artists in the UK. The artists also hope the contrasts in culture, landscape and artistic traditions will inspire their own work.
It is a trip that is without parallel in its ambitions. The artists, many of them heavily influenced by the scenery in which they live, will be packing their work into a container and travelling five thousand miles across the world to display their art. The One Sky project includes landscape painters, sculptors, ceramists and textile makers, brought together by Ingrid Pears, a glass-maker and designer based at Thoresby Country Estate in Nottinghamshire. Ingrid has worked on many high profile commissions across India. She has worked with Bollywood and with companies like Tata, one of the biggest corporations in the world. She has also worked on projects with individuals like the Dalai Lama and His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. This success has given Ingrid a passion to encourage others to share in the unique business and life-changing opportunity to trade with India.
The artists will be meeting up with Indian partners who will include designers, makers and sponsors. They will run workshops in their own specialised areas in factories and studios in Delhi to share their skills. The project will begin with a reception at the British High Commission in Delhi to meet some of the most important and high profile businesses in India. This will be chance for the artists to showcase their portfolios and promote the project's sponsors. The group will also be exhibiting their work with a stand at the prestigious India Art Summit. After the bustle of Delhi they will head into the Himalayas to one of the holiest regions in the country. Staying at a pilgrims' resting place between the sacred rivers of the Ganges and Yamuna, they will find time for quiet and reflection. It is hoped the whole journey will inspire new work as well as raising money for a local charity.
There is also the chance to create lasting partnerships between the two countries. As part of the One Sky project, Indian artists will be able to visit the UK. In a mirror image of the trip to India, they will experience the excitement of a major city like London, where they can display their own work, and travel out into the English countryside , visiting the Thoresby Country Estate in north Nottinghamshire, where the project is based. It is a trip that is all about creating unity through diversity. The artists are open to the profound influences it will have on their work in the future and to the opportunities to create exciting innovative work from mixing skills, media and culture.
To promote the project, its team includes Rob Pittam, an experienced broadcaster and journalist on national television. Rob spent more than 20 years as a BBC Business Correspondent and knows that this trip will throw up many good stories and filming opportunities. He will be using his contacts within the BBC and the rest of the UK media to make sure they reach a wide audience.
